Friday, July 30, 2004

When I first arrived at the News-Argus as a sports writer, I had set myself some goals -- the kind any sports fan would have set if he were handed a dream job. With this occupation comes credentials -- free...

CHARLOTTE (AP) -- The Super Bowl of bass fishing is expected to bring up to 100,000 fans and more than $20 million to Charlotte this weekend. The Bassmaster Classic is intense competition in boats that can sprint across Lake Wylie...

Rosewood Little Eagles football Registration for playing Rosewood Little Eagles football will run through Saturday outside the Rosewood Middle School. Registration will take place today from 6-7:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10-11:30 a.m. for players in ages 9-10 and 11-12....

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Former Eastern Wayne and East Carolina pitcher Sam Narron will fulfill a dream and take a key role in a major league baseball game Friday night. Narron, a 15th round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2002, was called...

SALISBURY -- Aycock's Junior Legion team stranded at least one base runner every inning as Surry County came away with a 6-1 win in the first round of the N.C. Junior American Legion baseball tournament on Tuesday. No information...

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

News-Argus/Dennis Hill Rory Low of Scotland helps young soccer players develop balance during The Eurotech Soccer camp at the Family Y soccer complex Monday. The camp is sponsored by the City of Goldsboro Parks and Recreation Department....

GARNER -- The Area I championship remains in Wake County thanks to the efforts of Garner Post 232 hurler Leif Baker. The right-hander yielded four hits in a complete-game shutout -- a 5-0 decision against Wayne County Post 11...

DEEP RUN -- The North Lenoir football program, which experienced its best season in nearly two decades last fall, found itself in an unfamiliar situation Tuesday afternoon. Conference peers tabbed the Hawks as the team to beat in this...

Jerry Howell, the long-time auto racing columnist for the Goldsboro News-Argus, died Tuesday of cancer at his brother's home in Florida. Howell's Pit Stop column was a regular fixture pages of the News-Argus for many years. Howell wrote in his...

Kinston, Frederick washed out FREDERICK, Md. -- Rain washed out Tuesday's contest between Kinston and Frederick, and both teams will make up the game with a doubleheader today. In game one, K-Tribe left-hander Derrick Van Dusen is scheduled to...

Winners of play of the day was Sue Wilson for low gross, Faye Franklin for low gross, Dot Julian low net and Betty H9olloway low putts. The Eastern League game this week will be hosted by Kinston Country Club...

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

MOUNT OLIVE -- After a shaky 7-4 loss to Garner on Monday night at Scarborough Field in game one of the Area I Championship Series, the precedent exists for Wayne County to bounce back. Following a loss to Garner...

News-Argus/Dennis Hill Wayne County's Airlon Vinson raps a single in the sixth inning against Garner pitcher Jeff Hatcher during the American Legion Area One championship series at Mount Olive College Monday night....

Attention tournament travelers -- Wayne County will begin play in the N.C. Legion state tournament on Wednesday, August 3 at either 5 or 8 p.m in Shelby. On Tuesday, August 2, a pre-tournament banquet will be held at Cleveland Community...

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- Former Eastern Wayne and East Carolina University standout Sam Narron picked up a no-decision for the AAA Oklahoma RedHawks in two innings of work on Monday against the Nashville Sounds. Narron, who started the game,...

Monday, July 26, 2004

MOUNT OLIVE -- One part has been accomplished, but a few tasks remain unfinished for the Wayne County Post 11 baseball team. Less than a week after claiming its sixth Area I East championship since 1994, Wayne County begins...

KINSTON -- The Kinston Indians rebounded from their first home loss of the season to the Potomac Cannons with a 5-0 shutout win before 1,307 fans at historic Grainger Stadium Sunday evening. The Tribe improved to 17-11 in the second...

Walnut Creek Ladies Golf In last week's game, Gaye Bryant won low gross and Sue Wilson took low nwt, while Betty Holloway won low putts. Hawg's Breath Bass Club The Hawg's Breath Bass Club started their 2004-2005 season Saturday with...

Sunday, July 25, 2004

KENLY -- Mac Allen said it most accurately when talking about Babe Ruth tournament baseball. "The best teams do not always win the tournament," he said. "You have to get the breaks, the luck, the calls, to win it."...

MOUNT OLIVE -- The Wayne County Post 11 pitching staff is following an unorthodox pattern in the postseason. In nine playoff games, the bullpen has notched seven wins compared to two by starting pitchers. Jesse Lancaster has collected the...

Wayne County's 14-year old Babe Ruth all-stars will start the state championship tonight with a single goal -- make the World Series. It's a goal common to all summer all-star baseball teams. Usually it is a difficult process in...

KINSTON --They needed all nine innings, but the Kinston Indians scratched out a pair of runs in their final at-bat and took a hard-earned 3-2 win against Frederick before 1,984 fans at historic Grainger Stadium Thursday night. The Indians, winners...

Curles throws well at CPL All-Star Game FLORENCE, S.C. -- Mount Olive College pitcher Weston Curles retired all three batters he faced, including two by strikeout, in his one inning of action at the Coastal Plains League All-Star Game...

Thursday, July 22, 2004

The usual routine for children going back to school is something every parent knows all too well -- buy clothes, get new shoes, buy pens, paper, notebooks, school supplies. For the parents of middle school and high school athletes,...

WILSON -- One error turned the tide -- again. A sixth-inning bobble sparked a three-run uprising and ignited yet another late-inning rally for Wayne County Post 11 on Wednesday. And just as it did Tuesday evening at home, visiting...

When Aycock decided to start a American Junior Legion program, reaching the state championship tournament wasn't necessarily an underlying goal in its first year. It was designed to give more young players the opportunity to play against good competition....

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

News-Argus/Kaye Nesbit Wayne County's Todd MacCoy is tagged out at home by Wilson County's Lee Hawkins early in the opening game of the Area One East Championship series at Scarborough Field Tuesday night....

Poised Post 11 takes Area One East series' opening game MOUNT OLIVE -- Confidence means a lot in the postseason. Converting that confidence into action -- especially in the late innings -- is what makes a good postseason team...

Betsy Frederick, a third-generation member of the athletic Frederick family of Goldsboro, has been named to the EA Sports All-American Girls Soccer Team. Betsy, a rising senior at Broughton High School in Raleigh, is also a member of the North...

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

MOUNT OLIVE -- Wilson Post 13 remains the final obstacle in Wayne County Post 11's path toward the Area I East Division title and a berth in the state tournament. The teams split their regular-season series with each winning...

Monday, July 19, 2004

Photo courtesy Jessica Webb/The Daily Reflector Post 39 second baseman Tanner Jones has a late tag on Wayne County's Todd MacCoy during the second game of the American Legion playoff series at North Pitt High School Saturday night....

BETHEL -- Garrett Davis, a first-year Senior American Legion player, looked like a seasoned veteran Saturday evening against Pitt County Post 39. The 15-year-old right-hander threw every pitch with poise and kept Wayne County in the hunt for a trip...

Sunday, July 18, 2004

BETHEL -- Wayne County's American Legion team bounced back off of an 12-2 loss to Pitt County on Friday with a 9-6 victory over Post 39 on Saturday night at North Pitt High School. The win evened the best-of-three Area...

MOUNT OLIVE -- An impressive, sound beating. That's the only way to describe Pitt County 39's 18-hit output that led to the 10-run mercy rule in eight innings against Wayne County Post 11 on Friday evening. Eight of nine...

PIKEVILLE -- Aycock Junior Legion's Aaron Kline delivered a three-run, bases-clearing double in the bottom of the first as Aycock went on to defeat Snow Hill 8-4 on Saturday night at Charles B. Aycock High School. The win boosts Aycock...

Friday, July 16, 2004

American Legion baseball begins the second round of the playoffs tonight as Wayne County locks up with Pitt County Post 39 in a best-of-three series with a berth in the Area I East finals at stake. Top-seeded Wayne County...

SALEM, Va. -- Kinston entered Thursday's doubleheader trailing Salem in the Single A Carolina League Southern Division standings. Once the doubleheader had ended, the first-half champion Indians had vaulted into second place, while the Avalanche crumbled into the league cellar....

GREENSBORO -- Frederick Keys third baseman Tripper Johnson was voted the Carolina League's Topps Player of the Month for June in a poll of the managers. In 25 June games, the right hand batting Johnson hit .355 (33 for...

PIKEVILLE -- Brandon Toler collected the game-winning RBI and Brandon Price threw a complete game as Aycock tripped Garner 4-3 in an American Junior Legion Area I inter-conference playoff game Thursday at Charles B. Aycock. Price, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, scattered...

The Wayne County Boys and Girls Club rebounded from the losers' bracket to beat Sampson County American 9-4 Thursday and advance to the Dixie Youth Baseball 9-10 year old district championship tournament at Mar Mac Community Ball Park. The...

If is fitting that Jes Snyder and Michael Sigmon -- two of the key cogs in Spring Creek's baseball team's rise to the Class 1-A Carolina Conference championship in 2004 -- are the first baseball players in the school's...

Both 2003 Eastern Wayne graduates, Todd MacCoy and Mike Oglesby have taken different paths to get to the same location. After competing mostly at the JV level for Mount Olive College's baseball team this year, the left-handed hitting MacCoy...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- The Wayne County Hurricanes 10, 12, 14, and 16 and under team are in Panama City, Florida playing the Unites States Fastpitch Association World Series. The Canes 10-under team defeated North Alabama Rockets Gold 5-1...

Wayne County's Dixie Youth 11-12 year-old team rallied from a 10-1 deficit to win 13-12 in the bottom of the sixth against Sampson County National at the District tournament at Mar Mac Community Ball Park. Cambric Moye led the...

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

NEW BERN -- A one-game season. Chris Beck created that scenario with one swing of the aluminum Tuesday evening. The New Bern lead-off batter stroked a 2-0 fastball over the right field fence for a three-run home run and...

GREENVILLE -- First-year Pitt County Post 39 Senior American Legion coach Mike Mullis usually believes in the motto, "celebrate a win until midnight." "I think I'll let them celebrate this one until tomorrow afternoon," he decided following the second...

It wasn't the 67 that he was aiming for, but Blake Williams' 73 on Tuesday was good enough to land him in a sudden death playoff with Corey Summer, who came back from a two-stroke deficit to tie Williams...

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

MOUNT OLIVE -- Some might think Todd MacCoy's job as clean-up hitter is an uneviable task, especially when you're hitting behind Erik Lovett. The job becomes more difficult when Lovett, one of the most respected batters on the American...

News-Argus/Dennis Hill Matthew Davis hits a tee shot Monday during the first day of play in the Goldsboro Builders/Clarence Rose Junior Golf Tournament at the Walnut Creek Country Club. Waiting their turn on the tee are Jordan Murphy, left,...

SNOW HILL -- "One inning killed us." The statement echoed through the Snow Hill Senior American Legion team dugout after Pitt County Post 39 used a huge fourth inning to swipe the momentum of Game One of the Area One...

The Goldsboro Builders/Clarence Rose Junior Golf Classic heads into its second and final round today at Walnut Creek Country Club. Unlike previous years, almost every age division of this year's event is highly competitive. Blake Williams of Elon leads...

DUDLEY -- Snow Hill's Hunter Chase had three hits and drove in two runs as Post 94 defeated Wayne County 11-8 in the Junior American Legion Area One East elimination game on Monday at Southern Wayne High School. Chase also...

PRINCETON -- In the 15 year old division, Wayne County defeated the Wilson Boy's and Girl's Club 11-4. Wayne County was led by David Rose and Decerlos Jones with 2-for-3 showings. In the nightcap, Wilson County defeated Greene County...

Wayne County's 11-12 Dixie Youth team fell 8-3 to Sampson County American in the finals of the winner's bracket at Mar-Mac on Monday. Lamar Best had two hits in two plate appearances for Wayne County. On Sunday, Wayne County...

Dave Contris notched his second career hole in one Sunday at Goldsboro Municipal Golf Course. Contris aced the 137-yard, par-3 12th hole with a 7-iron. Witnessing the feat were Chris Morrissey, Mike Burris and Rolan Stafford....

Monday, July 12, 2004

DUDLEY — Aycock Junior American Legion baseball team beat Wayne County for the first time in three tries Sunday, topping Wayne 8-1 to advance in the Junior Legion tournament. Aycock took control of the game in the fifth inning...

SNOW HILL — The American Legion senior playoff series between Snow Hill and Post County Post 39 will open tonight at the James R. Fulghum Athletic Complex. Pitt County is the higher seed but could not secure a field...

The Wayne County Dixie Youth all-stars beat Dunn 2-1 in the opening round of the district tournament at Mar Mac Community Ball park Saturday. Michael Johnson scored the winning run bottom of sixth inning on a double by Hunter...

Sunday, July 11, 2004

MOUNT OLIVE -- A four-day break has come at the right time for Wayne County Post 11. After playing three games in a four-day stretch, including a dramatic ninth-inning rally against New Bern Post 24, coach Brad Reaves' team gets...

PIKEVILLE -- Joseph Toler and Bradley Taylor each belted a home run as Aycock handed Snow Hill a 7-5 loss in an Area I East American Legion Junior tournament contest Saturday evening. Aycock (15-4) travels to Wayne County tonight with...

The 6th annual Goldsboro Builders/Clarence Rose Junior Golf Classic will tee off Monday morning at 8 o'clock at Walnut Creek Country Club. This year's field consists of approximately 110 players from the Carolinas, with many Wayne County schools being well...

Wayne County falls DUNN -- Wayne County scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning, but couldn't keep the momentum going in a 9-5 loss against Clinton in the AAU Dixie Youth 8-10-year-old Tournament at Tyler Park on...

KINSTON -- Winston-Salem doubled up Kinston 4-2 in the first game of their three-game set Saturday evening at historic Grainger Stadium. Additional details on the game were not available at press time. Kinston hooks Blue Rocks Kinston Indians were 0-28...

News-Argus/Dennis Hill Wayne County's Jesse Lancaster puts the tag on New Bern's Chris Beck trying to steal after Wayne County catcher Mike Oglesby made the throw during Thursday's game at Mount Olive College....

KINSTON -- Snow Hill and Kinston's American Legion teams had identical 3-5 Area I East South Division records, and nearly identical overall marks heading into Thursday's first head-to-head match-up at Kinston High School. Despite the similarities, there seemed to be...

Courtesy ncihigh.com Spring Creek High School finished 11th overall in the Class 1-A North Carolina High School Athletic Association's final standings in the state Wachovia Cup competitions for the 2003-2004 school year. The Wachovia Cup award, sponsored by Wachovia Bank,...

WASHINGTON -- Snow Hill's Junior American Legion team ended the regular season Thursday night with a 10-6 win over Tri-County. Hunter Chase was a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI, a triple and a double. Tyler Chase was 2-for-5 and...

DUNN -- The Wayne County Boys and Girls Club beat Sampson County American 13-0 on Thursday to advance in the Dixie Youth Baseball AAA (9-10-year old) district tournament in Dunn. The Boys and Girls club hads six hits, with...

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Wayne Junior Legion sweeps Rocky Mount DUDLEY -- Wayne County's Junior American Legion team closed divisional play with a doubleheader sweep of Rocky Mount Wednesday, winning 4-1 in the first game and taking the second of the twinbill 5-4...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Former Eastern Wayne and East Carolina University standout Sam Narron was named the AAA Pacific Coast League pitcher of the week for the week of June 28-July 5. Narron pitched the first complete game shutout of...

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

News-Argus/Kaye Nesbit University of North Carolina point guard Raymond Felton speaks to the campers at the Randy Tilley Baskeball Camp Monday. Felton works several summer camps each year. For more information see Felton is living his dream....

KINSTON -- Ten straight wins and an Area One East South Division championship. The win streak of Wayne County's American Legion team has included regular season sweeps of both Pitt County squads, Snow Hill -- and now Kinston following...

He's not cocky. He's just sure of himself. Raymond Felton is an easy going, easy-to-meet young man with immense basketball ability. And he is happy as can be living out his basketball dreams at the University of North Carolina. Felton,...

WINSTON-SALEM -- Dwayne Pollok of the Winston-Salem Warthogs is the Carolina League winner of the Rolaids Relief Man competition for June, compiling 20 points on 6 saves and a 1-0 record. Pollok is a Chicago White Sox farmhand. Pollok...

PHILADELPHIA -- The Sports Network has tabbed Salem outfielder Adam Seuss and a trio of pitchers -- Myrtle Beach's Blaine Boyer and Anthony Lerew and Wilmington's Devon Lowery -- as the Carolina League batter and pitchers of the week...

WINSTON-SALEM -- Sean Tracey earned his fifth win of the season, scattering four hits in a five-inning stint as Winston-Salem defeated first-half South Division champion Kinston 10-9 in a Single A Carolina League contest Tuesday. Tracey yielded two earned runs....

DUNN -- Wayne County opened play in the Dixie Youth AAA (8-10) baseball tournament with a 15-5 win over Mar Mac in five innings. Russell Turner was the winning pitcher, while Brenton Billups took the loss for Mar Mac....

PIKEVILLE -- Bennett Jeffreys' opening-inning grand slam set the tone for the evening as Aycock's Junior American Legion team dusted off Snow Hill 13-6 Tuesday night at the Charles B. Aycock High School diamond. Jeffreys came to bat after...

Tuesday, July 6, 2004

SNOW HILL -- Wayne County's American Legion baseball team did what it usually does against Snow Hill -- wore their opponent out with steady defense, superb pitching and enough hitting to take control of a game. Post 11 did...

News-Argus/Kaye Nesbit University of North Carolina player Raymond Felton speaks to the campers at the Randy Tilley Basketball Camp Monday at Wayne Country Day School. Felton talked with the campers and then signed autographs and posed for pictures whlie...

PIKEVILLE -- Facing a 3-2 count in the top of the sixth, Wayne County Junior American Legion player Joseph Davis drilled a two-out double to right center field to break a 5-5 tie as Post 11 went on to top...

SNOW HILL -- The Wilson County Youth Athletic Association sent three teams to Greene County for the Babe Ruth Eastern North Carolina District Four Baseball Tournament and came away with three championships. *In the 12-year old division, Wilson County defeated...

Lane Tree Ladies Golf For the week ending July 4, Beverly Sassano won low net, while Betty Jean Gurly claimed game of the week honors. Gwen Kelly took low putts. Tournament play will resume the week of August 2....

Monday, July 5, 2004

GREENVILLE -- Lightning, accompanied by several claps of thunder, flashed brightly in the distance Saturday evening near venerable Guy Smith Stadium. Everyone looked toward the sky and probably silently wondered if another Americn Legion Area I East contest, this...

WILSON -- Blake Taylor hit a pair of doubles and picked up the win on the mound in a strong relief effort as Snow Hill Post 94 picked up a 9-5 American Legion baseball win over Wilson Sunday afternoon. Taylor,...

KINSTON -- Julia Lancaster, weary from throwing an extra-inning game as the clock slowly clicked toward the midnight hour, found enough strength to throw another complete game well into Friday morning. The Charles B. Aycock standout notched nine strikeouts...

Play-of-the-day winner went to Sue Wilson, while Faye Franklin took low gross. Low net went to Charlotte Campbell and Low putts was won by Gaye Bryant. The N.C. State Playday Handicap Tournament was won by Sue Wilson. July pairings...

MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive College head women's soccer coach Chris Shaw has signed five more recruits to National Letters-of-Intent, bringing this year's total of signees to 10. All five recruits are from out-of-state -- two from Florida, two...

Sunday, July 4, 2004

The story of Sleepy Creek Golf Course may well parallel the parable of the Little Engine That Could. This oft-forgotten layout, tucked into the Sleepy Creek Community in southeastern Wayne County, has a lot of history hidden in its...

Located -- 122 Sleepy Creek Drive. The course is within the village of Sleepy Creek, which is on Sleepy Creek Road. Access Sleepy Creek Road either from U.S. Highway 117, turning left in Dudley, or following Arrington Bridge Road...

Courtesy MOC Sports Information For Craig Hurba, waiting through the Major League Baseball Draft was the stressful part. Once he got the phone call he was waiting for, the fun part began. Hurba, a two-time all-region and all-conference catcher at...

Oklahoma Redhawks starting pitcher and Eastern Wayne graduate Sam Narron gave his most dominating performance of the season to improve his record to 4-0 as the AAA RedHawks beat Omaha 3-0 Monday. Narron, a standout at East Carolina University, threw...

MOUNT OLIVE -- A recruiting coup? Maybe. A few college scouts looked at Philip Cunningham this past spring, but disappeared without a trace once the signing period began. Cunningham received attention from some in-state colleges, but none appeared too...

News-Argus/Dennis Hill Wayne County's Garrett Sutton lays down a successful bunt during his team's game against Kinston in American Legion baseball play at Mount Olive College on Wednesday night. The bunt helped load the bases and Wayne scored three...

The Eastern North Carolina Babe Ruth District Four Baseball Tournament continued in the rain on Wednesday night at Maury and at Greene Central High School. In the nightcap of the 10-under division game played at Maury, Wayne County held of...

KINSTON -- Wayne County's Amber Baker and Autumn Pittman had two hits each as the 12-under Wayne County Babe Ruth softball All-Star team defeated Greene County 10-0 at the District Eight Tournament in Kinston on Wednesday. Ashley Singleton, who...

SNOW HILL -- Snow Hill's Post 94 Senior American Legion game at home on Wednesday with Pitt County Post 160 was canceled due to rain. The Area One East/South Division game was called after a 45-minute delay. Post 94...

University of North Carolina basketball player Raymond Felton will be at the Randy Tilley Basketball Camp on Monday to give a talk and work with the campers. The camp is being held at Wayne Country Day School's gym with...